Manual Track

Version 0.5.0

Overview

Manual Track helps speed up your manual tracking workflow by allowing you to set a position keyframe and move a set number of frames with a single click.

Installation

Manual Track is only available for Windows installations.

To install, copy the manualtrack.aex file into one of the plugin directories:

Install for a single version of After Effects:

C:/Program Files/Adobe/Adobe After Effects YOUR VERSION/Support Files/Plug-ins/

Install for all versions of After Effects:

C:/Program Files/Adobe/Common/Plug-ins/7.0/MediaCore/

You may place the file directly into either of these folders or into any sub-directory within them.

Once the file has been copied into one of these locations, start or restart After Effects and you will see Manual Track under Effects > BatchFrame

Usage

Start by applying the Manual Track effect to a layer. This could be the footage layer you are tracking or a separate layer, its up to you.

Once applied, the effect will have 2 properties. Track Point and Step Size. To get started, set a keyframe (click the stopwatch) next to the Track Point property. Then, with the effect selected in the Effect Panel, hold the CTRL key and move the mouse to the Composition Panel. Your cursor should show as a crosshair.

You may then click anywhere within the composition. When you do, a position keyframe will be set for the Track Point property at the clicked location and the timeline will advance a certain number of frames based on the Step Size. This allows you to continually hold CTRL and single-click your way through the entire length of the composition.

Step Size

This property sets the number of frames to advance after each click. The default is 1 frame, meaning you will go through every frame. Increase this number if frame-by-frame accuracy isn't needed so you can get through the tracking quicker. You can change the Step Size at any time while tracking to adjust based on the footage. You can also set it to a negative number if you want to move backwards through your composition.

If you do not have keyframes enabled for the ‘Track Point’ property, the ‘Step Size’ will not have any affect and the timeline will not advance.

Questions or Comments?

If you have any questions or comments or would like to report a bug, feel free to send us an email at contact@batchframe.com or use the contact form.